Afghanistan: twelve police officers killed, including seven in a Taliban ambush

Twelve police officers were killed this Sunday in Afghanistan, including seven in an ambush by the Taliban south of Kabul, Afghan officials said.

The deadliest attack took place in Logar province just as the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Scott Miller, said preparations had started for the withdrawal of foreign forces still present. in this country, as recently ordered by President Joe Biden.

Read also: Afghanistan: "With the withdrawal of American troops, we women risk losing everything"

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" in the Mohammad Agha district, Dedar Lawang, spokesperson for the governor of Logar province, where the district is located, told AFP. They were part of a unit guarding copper mines. Provincial police confirmed this attack. Afghanistan, whose economy has been severely impacted by decades of conflict and rampant corruption, has reserves of copper, iron, cobalt and lithium.

Five other policemen were killed and four were injured in the Maiwand district of the southern province of Kandahar, a stronghold of the insurgents, when an assailant purposely crashed, while driving a car full of explosives, a police vehicle, announced the police.

The Afghan Interior Ministry had recently pointed out that the Taliban had carried out six suicide bombings and a total of 62 bombings in the previous 10 days, killing more than 60 and injuring 180 civilians.

General Miller, meanwhile, assured that preparations had started to hand over the remaining bases to Afghan forces and withdraw American soldiers.

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Ending America's Longest War

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," the American general told reporters in Kabul, without giving further details on these bases. The US government plans to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the 2001 attacks. President Joe Biden recently said the time has come to "

”, which began after the attacks of September 11, 2001

Many analysts consider that this withdrawal could plunge Afghanistan into a new civil war or allow the return to power of the Taliban, who had been driven out at the end of 2001. The departure of the 2,500 American soldiers still present in this country will begin on May 1, with those of NATO. The Resolute Support mission of the Atlantic Alliance brings together a total of 9,600 soldiers from 36 countries.